The man with the gloves [bucky barnes ff]

72

"Hey, girlfriend!" Alice shrieks when I open the door. "You look so good! You cut your hair!"

I nervously play with it. I always wore my head long but I wanted some change so I cut it mid length a few days ago. Everyone keeps telling me it suits me but I hate it. I feel so weird. I miss my old hair. "Thank you. Did your parents drop you off?"

"No, I took the cab. They're both at work." She drops her bag off next to the front door and walks straight to the fridge. She's been here so many times that she feels like at home. Which I don't mind. She's been there for me through all of this. "By the way, you won't believe what happened at school today!"

"Is it boy drama?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Amazing. Tell me more." I watch her as she pours in a glass of orange juice for herself and starts hysterically moving her hands. She's so dramatic. I love it.

"Okay, so, I told you a few weeks ago about how Harry has this new girlfriend, right? Mary Jane? That bitch I got into a fight with? Well, basically she's now set Harry an ultimatum that he can't see me again because she doesn't trust me around him. How ridiculous is that? He's my friend. I don't like him that way."

"Okay, hun, but did you do anything that would make her think that? Surely there has to be a reason she feels this way?" I know Alice only sees Harry as a friend but I get why that Mary Jane girl is having doubts. If my boyfriend had a female best friend I'd be suspicious, too.

"No, I swear! According to Harry they got into an argument because she wanted to go to the movies with him but he had already promised me to help me redecorate my room. And then she got mad and accused him of cheating. With me? Can you believe that? She didn't even ask me or anything, she just straight up walked to me in the middle of class and called me a bitch in front of everyone!"

I gasp, "What did you do?"

"Grabbed her hair and then rammed her face against a wall."

"Alice!" I blow. "You can't just hit people when they are mean to you."

"Why not? She deserves it. However, I got suspended for a week and now have bunch of homework that I need your help with." She grins at me. "On another note, is there something you want to tell me?"

I sigh. "How do you know he is back?"

"He called me."

That shouldn't have hurt me the way it did. I shouldn't have felt that pang of jealousy. "Of course he did."

"I have to tell you something." She starts fidgeting with her fingers. She's nervous. Alice is never nervous. "I have been kind of keeping something from you."

I sit up straight.

She meets my eyes and continues, "He actually reached out to me a few months ago. On my birthday. He asked me not to tell you because he wanted you to move on and not be reminded of him and back then I thought it made sense so I didn't. After that he's been calling me a couple of times asking me how I've been and all. Are you mad at me?"

Wow. I am stunned.
"Of course I am not mad at you. You just did what he asked you to do."
I am mad at him. And now I wonder why he reached out to Alice, why he reached out to Sam, to fucking everybody but me. Did I mean so little to him?
"Did he explain to you why he left?"

"Isla." There's a warning in her voice.

"Just tell me. I am not a child." I hate it when people treat me like I am a charity case. It makes me feel so dumb and small.

"He avoided that topic the first few times but eventually I got him to speak. He didn't say much. But he mentioned how much he loved you and that that is why he left."